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but what about health insurance? True, you can get it on your own but the cost is so prohibitive that you’re forced to bring in enough per month to cover it as well as everything else. If you’ve some health issues that doesn’t help either.

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-- Gwenn -- 2011 . 07 . 25 --

People who work for companies pay for health care as well, they just don’t write the premium checks every month!

I work for myself, I have insurance, and I have chronic health problems. The cost isn’t prohibitive usually, and when I had my surgery a few years ago I found funding through various organizations that give money to artists with health issues.

Bottom line: when you work for yourself you must have self-confidence and when you work for a company you must have confidence in the people running the company!

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-- Carolyn -- 2011 . 07 . 27 --

Nice. Yes. And as a freelancer with chronic health issues I can adjust my work and exercise schedules to maximize my health, which is a different form of health “insurance.” It’s not less work, just different.

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-- Gwenn -- 2011 . 07 . 28 --

@Carolyn: YES! I would find it very difficult to stick to anyone else’s work schedule the way I feel most days, and, as you point out, the self-care that I can indulge in by working for myself is crucial to my health.

Thank you very much for these words of wisdom! I found your site through a Google search just after having had an intense conversation about this very topic! I freelanced for almost a decade, then took a full time job (at a nonprofit I always wanted to work for), been there for 4 years, haven’t produced much art and need the “security” of my freelance lifestyle again. Thank you, thank you for these words of encouragement!